


I don't want to play Pokemon Go

by Asamii



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Cute, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, except kenma who is obvs a third year now, fluff with a bit of drama, just the two of them being dorks, literally everyone being dorks, they're second years now, tsukki starting shit because he likes to see meaningless drama, unnecessary drama, volleyball friendos playing pokego together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-07-01 23:11:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15784047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asamii/pseuds/Asamii
Summary: Kozume Kenma doesn’t know what to make of Hinata Shouyou. Despite knowing him for almost a year now, the energetic redhead was still much of an enigma to him. Sometimes he found him amusing. Other times, intriguing. However, at the current moment, Hinata Shouyou was beginning to become a bit of a pain.“Kenma, Kenma, Kenma!” screeched Shouyou.Kenma jolted, shaken out of his thoughts by the shrill voice ringing through his ears.“Look, look! Look what I caught!”Kenma peered over at Shouyou’s phone screen. Technically his, for it was his own phone that Shouyou clutched excitedly, flitting around like a hyperactive child, while Kenma absently wondered how much it would cost to replace if Shouyou dropped it and the screen were to shatter.---Hinata Shouyou introduces Kozume Kenma to Pokemon Go and despite initial resistance, Kenma ends up becoming a little too caught up in the game. He’d never admit it though.Featuring some Karasuno/Nekoma shenanigans and brief appearances of some of the old captains.





	1. Summer Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was playing Pokemon Go with a friend the other day and we both headcanoned that Hinata would totally be hyped about playing Pokemon Go - and that he'd drag Kenma into it somehow. This is the result.
> 
> This is my first fic in this fandom (first fic in years in fact) so let me know what you think! I'm thinking of writing a Haikyuu!! AU fic too, but we'll see~

Kozume Kenma doesn’t know what to make of Hinata Shouyou. Despite knowing him for almost a year now, the energetic redhead was still much of an enigma to him. Sometimes he found him amusing. Other times, intriguing. However, at the current moment, Hinata Shouyou was beginning to become a bit of a pain.

“Kenma, Kenma, Kenma!” screeched Shouyou.

 Kenma jolted, shaken out of his thoughts by the shrill voice ringing through his ears.

“Look, look! Look what I caught!”

Kenma peered over at Shouyou’s phone screen. Technically his, for it was his own phone that Shouyou clutched excitedly, flitting around like a hyperactive child, while Kenma absently wondered how much it would cost to replace if Shouyou dropped it and the screen were to shatter.

Grinning widely, Shouyou proudly displayed his catch to Kenma. “Pidgey, 30 CP” it read. Kenma raised an eyebrow. “Shouyou, that’s literally one of the most common Pokemon around. Not to mention it’s CP. What’s with it anyway, it looks weird.”

Shouyou pouted. “What do you mean?! It’s cute!!!”

Kenma sighed. Again. A few days ago, Shouyou had excitedly informed him that his family were coming to visit Tokyo during the summer break. Shouyou had complained at first, “I can’t play volleyball for a week, Kenma, Kageyama is going to yell at me again!!” but it had quickly turned to excitement when he realised he’d be able to spend nearly a whole week, or at least a few days, with Kenma.

“Kenma, Kenma, have you heard of Pokemon Go?” Shouyou had practically yelled down the phone one night.

Rolling his eyes, Kenma had replied, “Ugh. Yeah. What about it?”

“Yamaguchi is always playing it in front of me and I can’t play because I don’t have a smartphone,” Shouyou had whined. “Download it for me so we can play in Tokyo! Please, please, pleaaase Kenma!”

At first, Kenma had flat out refused. The original Pokemon games were better anyways. Pokemon Go was just a dumbed down game created to cater towards casual players/fans. It also required walking and leaving the house. Kenma didn’t want to do that.

Kenma wondered if he was being used, called out of his house and forced to follow Shouyou like some sort of obedient showcat. He wondered again why he had agreed to this, but seeing Shouyou’s smile upon another catch eased his annoyance a little and he allowed a tiny smile to form on his face.

If only Shouyou hadn’t confiscated his console, then he wouldn’t have been as irritated. He wouldn’t have minded letting Shouyou use his phone if he could have cleared the next level of Monster Hunter at the same time.

His gaze wandered over to Shouyou, transfixed on the screen, frantically swiping upwards in what Kenma assumed was an effort to catch another Pokemon. The afternoon sun reflected off Shouyou’s mass of messy hair, the bright orange strands seeming to glow of their own accord. His gaze drifted to Shouyou’s brown eyes, deep in concentration, glaring intensely at the screen. The sight was almost too bright for his eyes and if Kenma squinted, Shouyou almost looked like the sun itself.

Shouyou shoved Kenma’s phone under his nose, showing off another catch, this time a Rattata, 56 CP. Kenma smiled encouragingly, slightly warmer than before. He couldn’t help it, seeing Shouyou giddy with excitement. His eyes were shining and with a grin so wide, it could pop off his face at any moment. Kenma appreciated moments like this, alone together, just him and Shouyou. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he really was quite fond of Shouyou’s company.

“Kenma…” Shouyou frowned. “Are you bored? Am I boring? Do you not like my company?”

Kenma blinked, taken aback by the sudden barrage of questions and the unblinking stare of the shorter of the two. Whilst Shouyou was shorter than him by at least five centimetres, he still managed to overwhelm Kenma with his intensity on occasion.

“Oh..ah..um…no, not really, sort of?” Kenma offered, then winced at his reply. Seeing Shouyou deflate instantly, Kenma wished he could take back what he had said. Even though he was still slightly annoyed at Shouyou for taking his console away, nothing had ever hurt him more than seeing the expression that Shouyou was wearing now.

“Oh. Ah. Shouyou,” he managed, before Shouyou shut him up by grabbing his wrist and leading him away.

There was a loud “click”, as Shouyou turned off Kenma’s phone screen and slipped it into his pocket. Kenma’s ears were left ringing in the sudden absence of the loud game music that had been blaring from his phone seconds earlier.

“Kenma, come,” Shouyou said, determination in his eyes, even though his face still wore a pout. His grip was surprisingly strong for someone of his size and Kenma tried in vain to free his arm, before giving up and letting Shouyou march him onwards.

Shouyou kept his hold on Kenma’s arm, dragging Kenma through the trees and into the park, as the sun began to dip towards the horizon.

“Ah. Shouyou. Where are we going?”

Shouyou didn’t answer, until they emerged in a clearing. An artificial lake sat in the centre, its surface gleaming, as orange rays reflected off the surface and onto the trees, bathing everything in golden light. An elderly couple were taking their evening stroll at the far side of the lake, throwing some bread to the small number of ducks gathered there. Given the lingering summer heat, it was no surprise that other than them, Kenma and Shouyou were alone.

Shouyou dragged Kenma over to the nearest tree and sat down abruptly, pulling Kenma down with him. Kenma flopped down in turn, staring at Shouyou quizzically, whose hand was still gripped firmly around his wrist, the look of determination still in his eyes.

“Shouyou…”

“It’s just that we never spend time together,” Shouyou stated suddenly, eyes flicking away from the setter’s face. It could just be the orange-pink glow of the setting sun, but Kenma swore that he could see a faint flush come to Hinata’s cheeks. “I mean… we spend time together, but not _together._ ” Kenma wondered what he was implying.

Shouyou’s eyebrows drew together and he suddenly looked squarely back at Kenma. “It’s – I mean – What I want to say is – Argh, ok let me start again. Whenever we hang out, we hang out but like – you’re always playing Monster Hunter and you never let me play!”

Kenma frowned, annoyance resurfacing briefly as he remembered the console sitting in the back pocket of Shouyou’s backpack. He could reach over and grab it, but Shouyou would surely notice, and he didn’t want to anger the tiny middle blocker any further. Kenma couldn’t even tell if Shouyou was angry. He was acting strange, he thought. Still, his fingers itched at the possibility of playing the game once again, wishing for another attempt at defeating that boss he was struggling with.

Shouyou shook his head violently, suddenly bringing his hands to his face with a loud SLAP. “No, that’s not what I wanted to say…” he muttered to himself, before taking a deep breath and trying again.

“Kenma, whenever we hang out, you’re always playing games and I’m always doing something, and it’s really fun! But we never just _talk._ We’re friends right? Best friends? But sometimes I… I don’t know, I just want to talk, I guess.”

Ah. So that was why he’d taken his console away. Kenma hummed with discontent.

“I know what your favourite game is, I know who your preferred spiker is. But I want to know what your favourite food is, your favourite type of music and the type of weather you’re most comfortable. We’re friends right?”

A brief silence hung in the air. Shouyou turned his head away and was about to get up when Kenma opened his mouth to speak. “You know Shouyou, you can just ask.”

Shouyou huffed. He had thought he would get this answer, even if it wasn’t the one he wanted. “But you’re always playing Monster Hunter and you always look so happy, I feel like it wouldn’t be right to disturb you. Also, last time I tried to talk to you like that, you hissed at me.”

The last bit of regret and annoyance dissolved in Kenma’s heart. Shouyou really _was_ interesting.

Kenma started to shake. Only very slightly at first, then until a soft chuckle escaped from his lips.

 “…Kenma?” Shouyou whispered, worried. He wasn’t sure what he had expected, but this certainly wasn’t it.

“Ahhh, Shouyou…” Kenma muttered, almost to himself. “You did all this because you were jealous of Monster Hunter?”

Shouyou averted his eyes. “Urgh…when you put it that way…”

Kenma chuckled again, the soft evening light illuminating his face, turning his blond strands into something akin to liquid gold.

“I…I just wanted to spend time with you that’s all.”

Finally, Kenma turned to look at him, his eyes full of warmth.

“Shouyou, you don’t need to worry about that. Even if I’m playing games, part of my attention will always be on you, you know?”

This time, he was almost certain that Shouyou’s face had changed colour, but it really was quite hard to tell in this lighting.

“You don’t have to quietly vie for my attention, Shouyou. I, uh, didn’t realise you felt this way but… if you want to talk I can just stop playing for a moment.”

Shouyou’s jaw almost dropped through the ground. “Really?!” he yelled excitedly, leaning forward, startling Kenma. “You’d stop playing _Monster Hunter?_ Your _favourite game ever?! For…me?!_ ”

This time, it was Kenma that averted his gaze. “Well… only for you, ok? Don’t tell Kuroo that or I’ll never be able to play in peace again. Besides. that’s why I can never defeat the boss when you’re around. You’re…distracting.”

“Kenmaaaaa!” Shouyou cried gratefully, throwing his arms around Kenma’s neck, nearly knocking him backwards. “You truly are the best!”

Surprised but not unpleasantly so, Kenma wondered what to do with this new development. Slowly, awkwardly for sure, he thought, he brought his right hand up to pat Shouyou’s head, softly, as if Shouyou were some sort of oversized cat. This seemed to please him, so Kenma continued to do so, until the sun had disappeared from the horizon and it was just him and Shouyou, alone in the park, gazing up at the darkening twilight of the evening sky.

He stole a glance at Shouyou, who was surprisingly serene, still nestled in his arms, eyes on the blues and purple hues above him. Kenma smiled. Maybe, just maybe, it was worth coming out these few days. For the first time in his life, his games could wait.

“…Shouyou.” Kenma realised his limbs had gotten stiff and surely Shouyou was beginning to come to the same conclusion. “Do you know where we are?”

“…No.”

Kenma sighed. “Can I have my phone back then? And my console, before you take it back to Miyagi with you.”

Kenma could just make out a small pout on the tiny decoy’s lips.

“…Ok.”

“Alright, so according to the map, we have to-“

“-Wait, Kenma, do you think there are night Pokemon I can catch?”

“…”

“Please?”

“We need the map to get you back to the hotel.”

“Pokemon Go has a map!”

“…”

“…sorry, Kenma.”

 


	2. Thinking of You

Kenma idly tossed the volleyball into the air, watching it soar, before bouncing on the ground and rolling away. He sighed and slowly trudged after it.

“Oiii, Kenma!”

Kenma turned to see his childhood friend jogging towards him.

“Hey, Kuroo.”

“Heyyyy, long time no see, why the sad expression?” The tall college student threw an arm around Kenma’s neck and ruffled his hair affectionately.

“This is my usual expression,” Kenma muttered, ducking out of Kuroo’s grasp.

“What are you up to, Kenma? It’s a nice evening but-“

As if something suddenly occurred to him, Kuroo did a double take. “Where’s your console? Where’s Monster Hunter? Did you finish the game or something?”

Kenma returned his shocked expression blankly. “You know, there is more that goes through my mind than Monster Hunter.” Somehow, Kenma had a feeling that Kuroo didn’t believe him.

“Still, it really is unbelievable that you’re here, without being forced to come out either. I’m really surprised to see you at the park by yourself, you know.”

“I mean, we used to come here together all the time.”

“And I’d have to drag you out of the house and bribe you with apple pie. Seriously, what’s the deal?”

“There’s nothing going on, Kuroo.”

“No, really, you’re outside? Without your console? With the volleyball I gave you? Honestly, I thought that thing would never see the light of day again.”

“…Kuroo, you made me promise I’d take it to the park sometime, in honour of the time we spent together.”

Kuroo sighed, exasperated. “I didn’t think you’d actually do it?! Come on, spill.”

Kuroo bent down and picked up the volleyball, placing it under his arm before looking at Kenma expectantly.

“…Ok, I’m practicing my tosses.”

Kuroo raised an eyebrow. “What? Since when did you care?”

“I’m a third-year, so I figured I should be a good example to the first and second years.”

“…”

“What?”

“Since when have you cared about your juniors?”

Kenma turned his head away, a pout on his lips. “Since always.”

Kuroo pretended to contemplate something before asking quietly, “… does the second year in question happen to go by the name of Hinata Shouyou?”

“Ye-wait what?!” Kenma jumped back, but the expression on his face told Kuroo everything he needed to know.

“Practicing tosses, huh?” Kuroo wiggled his eyebrows. “For the first and second years, huh. Our second years?! Hmm…”

“Ugh, shut up,” Kenma muttered, turning away.

Kuroo looped around to stand in front of Kenma again. “What an odd vice-captain. Practicing tosses for a member of an opposing team.” Kuroo wiggled his eyebrows again. “Almost traitorous, I’d say.”

Kenma turned away from his gaze. He hadn’t even wanted to be vice-captain anyway, but the team had insisted. “Why are you here, Kuroo?”

Kuroo grinned. After graduating, Kuroo had moved into the college dorms of the university, and Kenma saw him rarely these days. Kuroo usually messaged him before visiting, though.

“I’m just on my way through, after visiting the family. Sorry I didn’t let you know, I don’t have a lot of time on my hands, so we wouldn’t have been able to catch up properly.”

“We ran into each other anyway though.”

Kuroo laughed, attempting to grab Kenma again. This time Kenma dodged. “What are the chances? Maybe it’s fate. Maybe it was destiny that caused us to run into each other again!”

“Tch. I severely doubt that.”

Kuroo linked his arm with Kenma’s, gripping tightly so Kenma couldn’t escape. “Walk me back to the station,” he said jovially, ignoring Kenma’s struggles. “I’ll show you this new game I downloaded.”

Kenma, seeing he had no choice, stopped struggling. “Alright, on the condition you let go of me.”

Kuroo’s face lit up and as he loaded up the game on his phone, Kenma heard all too familiar game music blaring from Kuroo’s phone.

“No…don’t tell me…”

“It’s Pokemon Go!” Kuroo exclaimed. “Surely you’ve heard of it, Kenma?”

Kuroo turned to see Kenma quickly hurrying away in the opposite direction.

“Heeeyy!” Kuroo yelled, chasing after Kenma. “You promised you’d follow me!”

He grabbed Kenma’s arm again, frowning down at him. “Come on, give it a chance. I think you’d really like Team Mystic.” With a bit of pride injected into his words and ignoring Kenma’s struggling, he continued. “Mystic stands for wisdom. They are wise and cunning and the leader, Blanche, calmly analyses every situation before making a move. Mystic is the most superior of the teams!”

Kenma perked up a little at that.

“You have to be level 5 to join a team though…Still, Kenma, I think you’d like the game.”

“…No.”

“Kenmaaaaa…”

Eventually, Kuroo couldn’t convince Kenma to play, so Kenma trailed beside him as Kuroo told stories of their old teammates and rivals and what they were up to now, occasionally stopping to spin a Pokestop or catch a Pokemon.

“-and then Bokuto had to be dragged out by Akaashi! Akaashi wasn’t even meant to be there, but he insisted that no one else would take care of Bokuto if he didn’t!”

Kenma plodded along silently, wishing he hadn’t left his console at home.

“Shall I tell Bokuto about your ‘toss practice’?”

“No!”

“But what will I tell Bokuto and the others about you?!”

“Just don’t tell them anything.”

“Awh, you’re no fun- oh my GOD a Pikachu! With a cute hat!”

Kenma sighed. What was with this game anyway? First Shouyou, now Kuroo. Even though he maintained it was an inferior Pokemon game, after watching both Shouyou and Kuroo play the game in front of him, he had to admit it did look vaguely interesting…

Much to his dismay, he was actually starting to take an interest in Pokemon Go.

* * *

 

Shouyou sat on the floor, back against the wall, tapping his feet listlessly. He wanted to talk to Kenma, but the last text he had sent was twenty minutes ago and he still hadn’t gotten a reply. Maybe he was playing Monster Hunter again? Ugh.

Shouyou sighed. How lame, being jealous of a video game. Was it weird that he texted Kenma so much? Maybe Kenma was sick of him. Kageyama always made fun of him for bugging Kenma all the time, telling him to focus on volleyball instead. Sometimes he even accused him of being a spy for the other team. “I’m your setter, not him! Stop looking at your phone!”

Shouyou looked back to his phone.

 

To: KENMAAA

KENMAAAAAAAAA

Sent: 21 mins ago

 

Shouyou sighed. He wondered what Kenma was doing at that moment. He was shocked out of his reverie by a swift kick to the shin.

“Hinata, dumbass! We can’t train properly if you’re moping around like that!”

“Ow, ow, ow-“ Shouyou grabbed his shin, trying to breathe through the blow that Kageyama had given him.

Snatching the phone out of his hands, Kageyama eyed the conversation, then typed out a reply.

“Hey! What are you doing, Bakageyama?!” Shouyou jumped up, trying to grab the phone out of Kageyama’s hand, while the latter smiled maliciously, dancing around, not letting Shouyou grab it.

“Concentrate on training, and you can have this back.”

“What did you type?!”

“’I don’t like you anymore.’”

“Whaaat?! Give it back!”

A snide laugh cut through the air, as a tall blond appeared beside Kageyama. “Oho, Hinata slacking? Does he not want to be the ace anymore? I suppose one of the first-years would be keen to rise to the challenge after Tanaka-san retires.”

“What did you say?!” Shouyou charged at Tsukishima, who easily dodged, plucking the phone out of Kageyama’s hands in one smooth motion. Instead, Hinata slammed into Kageyama, knocking them both to the ground.

“Oi! You’re such a clumsy idiot!” Kageyama growled from beneath Shouyou.

While Shouyou and Kageyama brawled, Tsukishima smirked and typed out a second reply on Shouyou’s phone.

“…Tsukki, you shouldn’t do that,” a soft voice whispered next to him. Yamaguchi stood beside him, peering over at the message Tsukishima was typing out.

“Kageyama did it first,” Tsukishima replied, not looking up from the phone screen. When Yamaguchi continued to glare admonishingly, Tsukishima turned away, brow slightly furrowed. “Besides, it looks like he’s already forgotten.”

Tsukishima motioned to the two, still bickering with each other. Yamaguchi noticed that Tsukishima had finished whatever he was typing and was softly closing the flip phone. However, before he could say anything about it, Tsukishima shoved the phone into his hands.

“Here, you’re in charge of giving this back to him when he remembers,” Tsukishima voiced, before turning on his heels and jogging back to the court.

Yamaguchi opened his mouth to reply, but Ennoshita was already calling people back from break. Shouyou trudged behind a pleased looking Kageyama, aiming kicks at his shin, which Kageyama effortlessly dodged. Yamaguchi sighed, slipping the phone into his jacket pocket, then putting the jacket aside on the bench. He’d take care of this mess later.

The team got back into practice, the squeak of shoes and the pounding of the balls resounding through the gym again.

However, two minutes later and unheard by anyone present, Shouyou’s phone began to buzz incessantly in Yamaguchi’s jacket pocket.

* * *

Kenma leaned against the wall surrounding the school, eyes fixated on his phone, tapping at the screen wildly. There, his Vapereon battled a Charizard and Kenma cursed when it ran out of HP and fainted, his next Pokemon switching in automatically. Before leaving, Kuroo had pleaded Kenma to play Pokemon Go as well. _I need someone to send gifts to and raid gyms with,_ he had said. _If you don’t play with me, I’ll tell Bokuto about that egg story from when you were 10 years old._ Kenma shuddered. Kuroo had promised never to tell another soul at the time, but years after, he still used it a stepping stone for whenever he wanted Kenma to do anything for him. _I guess I have no choice,_ Kenma had thought, as he had watched the app download. _At least I’ll have one more thing in common with Shouyou._

Kenma was still tapping furiously, when a notification appeared at the top of the screen. “KENMAAAAAA” it read.

Scowling, Kenma swiped it away without checking the sender, cursing again as another of his Pokemon fainted. Soon, he had forgotten that he had even received a message.

Kenma sat down, reviving his Pokemon in preparation for the next battle, when his phone buzzed again. Kenma was about to swipe away the notification, when his blood ran cold.

From: shouyou

“I don’t like you anymore”

Kenma felt like time had stopped. Why was this happening? What had he done? It was unlike Shouyou to message him something like this. Hell, it was unlike Shouyou to message anything that wasn’t all in capital letters.

Kenma stared at the screen, reading the words again. _I don’t like you anymore._ Kenma opened the messaging application and scrolled up to read the message from before, realising the notification he had impatiently swiped away earlier was in fact, also from Shouyou.

Received: 25 minutes ago.

Was it because he had not replied? Usually Kenma tried to reply immediately, but surely Shouyou wouldn’t be upset because of the rare time he didn’t?

Kenma’s phone buzzed again and another message appeared on the screen.

“I never liked you.”

Kenma felt like he had been hit in the face and if he wasn’t sitting down, he would most likely have fallen over. His heart beat loudly in his chest. Why? Why? Why was Shouyou saying these things now? What had he done? Was this because he hadn’t let Shouyou catch night Pokémon that time by the lake? Was it because Kenma wouldn’t play the PC games that Shouyou always bugged him to download?

Kenma started to type out a reply, then stopped. What could he even say to that? His thumbs stilled on the phone keyboard, hovering above, trembling slightly. Remembering his Pokémon still battling a gym, Kenma cursed, switching back to the Pokémon Go app to watch another Pokémon faint from a Snorlax’s Hyper Beam. Kenma sighed. He could faintly hear Lev talking excitedly to a first year somewhere on the other side of the wall. Shrinking back further behind the hedge he was standing next to, he hoped he wouldn’t be noticed. He’d rather die than be caught playing Pokémon Go by Lev, of all people.

Memories of Shouyou flashed through his head. The first time he had met him, Shouyou had stumbled upon him idly playing Monster Hunter, lost in Miyagi and waiting for Kuroo to find him. He remembered Shouyou’s bright smile as Kenma had tried to ignore him, failing to lose the short ginger’s interest. Another memory, this time at the Fukurodani Group’s training camp, tossing to Shouyou, before running away after Shouyou became too demanding and loud. Then, most recently, Tokyo, when Shouyou’s family came up for a trip. Images of his smile flashed through his head, the way he would talk endlessly about anything that interested him, the way his laugh floated on the air, so gleeful and pure.

_I never liked you._

Kenma stared at the screen, his finger hovering over the call button. Surely Shouyou didn’t mean this. What had happened? Was it weird to randomly call him? They texted all the time, even called occasionally, but that was usually at a set time. Surely it wouldn’t be weird of him to call Shouyou – to hear his voice…even if it confirmed the sentiments from his texts.

Taking a deep breath and shaking slightly, Kenma tapped the button and put the phone to his ear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ////yams is the only one that can tell tsukki off and actually make him feel bad. even if only slightly.


	3. Turning a Cold Shoulder or Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I kind of was dumb and missed a segment of the previous chapter last update when I moved it from my word doc to Ao3
> 
> I've put the segment in there now and - for convenience - also put it at the start of this chapter! I'll delete the segment from the start of this chapter after a week, so if you read chapter 2 before 25/9/18 and it is currently after 2/10/18, go back to the previous chapter and read the last segment!!! Sorry for the mishap...I didn't realise until yesterday ;.;
> 
> Anyway, sorry for taking a while to update as well!!! A longer chapter with some Kuroo and Bokuto, I hope you enjoy it!!!

Kuroo wiped the sweat off his brow, rifling through his sports bag for his phone with his other hand. Around him, volleyballs flew through the air, as players of all skill levels practiced in the college gym. Practice for the university’s official team had just finished and the courts were starting to be filled with the more casual players.

He gazed over to the far court, where the beginners were practicing their digs. A girl with sleek, dark hair set to a second girl who was slightly taller, who was awkwardly trying to receive the ball with a dig. He watched as the ball hit the tips of her fingers instead of near her wrists, the ball ricocheting right back at the first girl, who ducked quickly to avoid the speeding ball that was heading for her face. The taller girl apologised profusely, layering on apologies while the other smiled awkwardly, caught between telling her off or feeling sorry for her.

Kuroo smirked. It was sort of nostalgic, watching them. He remembered the first time he had successfully convinced Kenma to play volleyball with him. He had dragged the smaller boy out of his house, ignoring his complaints and his reward had been a ball to the face almost immediately. Luckily Kenma wasn’t strong enough to inflict much damage back then.

A notification appeared at the top of his phone screen. “A friend has sent you a gift!” Speak of the devil. Kuroo opened up the Pokemon Go app, scrambling to turn the volume down when the music began to blare out of his phone speakers. Glancing around to make sure no one was giving him odd looks, he checked his friends tab and sure enough, there was a gift waiting for him.

“applepi has sent you a gift!”

Kuroo’s eyes widened. He had only introduced the game to Kenma two or so weeks ago and he was already halfway through level 20. How had he managed to play so much? Kuroo chuckled to himself. It seemed Kenma took every game he played seriously, even the ones he called ‘inferior’. Brushing the revelation aside, Kuroo opened the gift. Stardust and a revive. Could be better.

Kuroo sighed and returned to reminiscing about his childhood friend. Kenma was much better now, the vice-captain of the Nekoma team and the brain that gave them direction. Kuroo missed seeing his friend every day. It still felt strange not to walk to school with the Monster Hunter music blaring from the setter’s console beside him. He had always felt protective of his shorter setter friend but it was time he stopped. Kenma learned to stand on his own two feet a long time ago.

Kuroo also missed having a setter that knew exactly what he wanted as a spiker. The college team was a lot different to how Nekoma had been and Kuroo was still adjusting to the habits of each player, as well as being one of the younger players around. It was odd, to suddenly be the one receiving orders instead of giving them. He also still had to learn everyone’s names.

“Hey, hey, hey, Kuroo!!” Bokuto yelled excitedly, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Kuroo choked on the water he had been drinking, as Bokuto smacked his back amicably. “Why the long face, Ugly Eyes?”

“Eugh, it’s you, Owlface,” Kuroo gurgled, attempting to cough up the last of the water that had entered his lungs. He chose to ignore the offending nickname in favour of survival this time around. Bokuto only grinned and continued slapping Kuroo’s back, which didn’t help at all.

In his other hand, Bokuto tossed a volleyball impatiently, waiting for Kuroo to notice. Having Bokuto around constantly was another thing that Kuroo wasn’t used to. How did Akaashi deal with him all the time? He supposed that the two of them hadn’t shared classes when Bokuto attended Fukurodani High, but neither did Kuroo share any classes with Bokuto and he already felt like time without him was sparse. Kuroo wondered how Akaashi stayed sane. Maybe he had never been sane and just kept it well-hidden behind that stoic mask of his.

“-had a brilliant idea!! Do you want to hear it, Kuroo?! Do you? Come on, tell me you want to,” Bokuto rambled, now passing the volleyball from hand to hand.

Shaken out of his thoughts, Kuroo turned to look at Bokuto, before packing his drink bottle into his bag and silently picking it up. Noticing the change of mood, Bokuto stopped talking, instead staring at the taller of the two questioningly.

“Hey, are you listening?” Bokuto demanded impatiently, waving his hand in front of Kuroo’s face, before his brow furrowed in concern. “Was it anything I did? Is it about the party at your house two weeks ago? I said I’m sorry okay? I didn’t mean to free your pet bird then set your bathroom on fire! It was an accident, we talked about this-“

Kuroo stopped packing his bag to turn back to Bokuto, annoyance showing on his face. Seeing his expression, Bokuto stepped back, eyes wide, looking anywhere but at Kuroo. In his panic, he tripped over his own abandoned bag, screeching as he fell backward, the volleyball flying out of his hands and bouncing off Kuroo’s head.

Kuroo, still crouching on the floor, attempted to continue glaring at Bokuto - the bathroom mess hadn’t been easy to clean up after all - but he failed dismally. His mouth quivered before he broke out in loud laughter, the cackling drawing confused and slightly frightened glances from the players around him. Still laughing, Kuroo stood up, extending a hand to Bokuto while wiping away his tears.

“You’re a mess but you’re my bro, Bokuto. I’d nearly forgotten about that to be honest,” Kuroo said, still laughing. The horrified expression on Bokuto’s face as flames burst to life before quickly petering out had just been too good. Besides, he had gotten the whole debacle featuring Bokuto’s shell-shocked expression on camera, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Stealthily, a boy with short auburn hair approached the duo, sneaking carefully up to them and grabbing the volleyball from where it had rolled beside the duo. Glancing up at them to make sure they didn’t notice, he quickly glanced over the ball, making sure of the “Tokyo University Volleyball Club” written in black marker, before scurrying away to practice with his friends.

Bokuto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, now standing, still embarrassed by the memory. Choosing not to dwell on it, he moved on. “So, you know how my old high school is holding the training camp next week?” he asked.

“Does this have anything to do with your ‘brilliant idea’?” Kuroo asked, beginning to walk towards the changerooms. Bokuto picked up his bag and hurried after him.

“All of my ideas are brilliant, but this one takes the cake.”

At the lack of a reply, he continued. “So, I was thinking, everyone will be missing their favourite ace, right? So, I’m going to show up and surprise them all!”

At Kuroo’s sceptical glance, he continued hurridly, “I won’t get caught this time!”

“That’s what you said the last three times you were kicked out of the school for trespassing.”

Bokuto groaned. “Anyway, I’m going to see Akaashi the day before, so we’ll come up with a master plan to sneak me in!”

“Tch. Have fun with that.”

“You’re not coming with?!” Bokuto stared at Kuroo incredulously. “Don’t you want to see your favourite Kenma?”

Kuroo picked up his pace, striding ahead of the other. “We’ve known each other since we were kids. I don’t need to see him every day to keep our friendship alive.” The corner of his mouth twitched, but Bokuto didn’t notice. “Besides, I doubt Akaashi of all people would agree to help you sneak in. He’s more likely to turn you in to them himself.”

“Ugh, Kuroooo…” Bokuto continued to talk about his possible infiltration as they started to walk towards the change rooms, the topic changing to his plans with Akaashi that Sunday. As Bokuto rambled on, Kuroo’s thoughts drifted to Kenma.

Kenma had changed a lot since they had been kids. He remembered how the boy had always been frail, having to lie down every time they finished volleyball practice. He called it “volleyball practice”, but it had mostly been Kuroo throwing the ball at Kenma, the latter being unable to react in time and either getting hit in the face, losing his balance, or both.

Kenma had always been a sickly child, never really leaving his house. Kuroo had always barged into his room back then, to drag him away from his games and play with him. Kenma’s default response had always been “Kuroo…do I have to?” but with the promise of apple pie, he would grudgingly be pulled along. Without that promise, Kenma wouldn’t even open his room door sometimes.

Kuroo smiled. He had always felt a little guilty for making Kenma sick, however. At least the boy stopped getting fevers after practice, around the time when they were in middle school together. Now Kenma could hold his own on a volleyball court as a regular on the team and nothing made Kuroo prouder.

Kuroo’s smiled faded slightly. It is inevitable that people change. Even if change is for the better, Kuroo couldn’t help but miss the more innocent times when he and Kenma had hung out together at the park, even when they weren’t playing volleyball. It was hard to find a friend where it was simply enough to just exist next to them.

Kenma still had the same indifferent expression as always, but something beneath it had changed. Against his will, Kuroo could feel their bond stretching, due to distance and time apart. Instead of the comfortable nature between them that had resided for years, Kuroo could feel gaps appearing in their friendship and he was powerless to stop this change. He supposed it was only natural if he had moved away as well as graduating from high school.

Kenma had never shown excitement around Kuroo, at least not outwardly. The most excitement that he would show was upon obtaining a new game to play. His eyes would light up and a spring would work its way into his step, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

Which was why Kuroo had been surprised, but not that surprised, when he saw the same excitement directed not at a game, but at a person. He couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous, although he knew it was unfounded.

The first time Kuroo had noticed, it was during a training camp during his last year of high school. Kenma had watched, unblinking, as Hinata Shouyou had performed his “ultimate quick”, to the dismay of his opponents. It was as if Kenma wasn’t aware of anything else but him. Kuroo didn’t fail to notice the change in Kenma’s tone of voice whenever he mentioned Shouyou either.

Kuroo closed his eyes, sighing. He felt like a mother who had watched her child grew up – if he knew what being a mother with a child felt like, which he didn’t. Still, he felt like he’d seen his friend grow until he didn’t need assistance anymore and strangely, it left him with a sense of loss and bittersweet nostalgia.

“-Kurooooo, you’re not listening to me again!”

Kuroo snapped out of his reverie to spot Bokuto with puffed out cheeks, hands on hips. “If you ignore me, I won’t hang out with you anymore!”

Kuroo smiled amicably, attempting to cover up the second time he had drifted off into his thoughts.

“And is that Pokemon Go?!” Bokuto continued. “Open my gifts, damn it. You always forget.”

Kuroo glanced down at his phone, which was still open on the app. Bokuto snatched the phone out of his hand, opening the friends tab so he could send a gift back to himself from Kuroo’s account.

Instead of protesting, Kuroo attempted to change the topic, preferably to something that would make Bokuto forget Kuroo’s inattentiveness today. “…So, what was that about Akaashi, again?”

Bokuto’s eyes lit up. “Well, he and I-“

* * *

 

From: shouyou

Kenmaaaaa, coach ukai says we’re coming to Tokyo next week!

 

Kenma scowled and swiped the notification away, focusing on evolving all his Pokemon at once. He had a lucky egg going, which meant double exp for 30 minutes and he didn’t want to waste the time he had.

 

From: shouyou

I can’t wait to see you again! I’ve grown taller, I’m sure of it! Maybe this time I’ll be taller than you!

 

Kenma ignored the notification again. What was up with Shouyou? Why would he say something so horrible, then act like nothing happened? Was it a sick joke? No, Shouyou wouldn’t make jokes like that.

From: shouyou

Oh, you called me. Why the call?

Kenma kept evolving. He should get two levels by the time he was done. After that, he’d go take the gym across the street before heading to sleep.

From: shouyou

Kenma!

 

From: shouyou

Kenmaaaaaaaaaaa

 

From: shouyou

Ok goodnight kenma I hate u

 

There it was again. Kenma’s finger slipped and he accidentally powered up a 10 cp Pidgey instead of evolving it. He cursed, then realised his thirty-minute timer had run out two minutes ago. _What a load of wasted potential exp,_ he thought.

As he anticipated, he had gained two levels after all. He absently wondered if Shouyou had managed to convince someone else to let him borrow their phone to play. As he sorted through his Pokémon, he wondered what Shouyou was doing, and whether it was right for him to be ignoring his messages like this.

Hinata smashed the ball to the ground, the ball rebounding off the floor of the gym with a resounding thud.

“Nice kill!!!” his teammates yelled, as the next person lined up to spike.

Kageyama gave Hinata a pleased nod as he jogged away. “Good to see you trying again. Don’t stop,” he called after him.

Hinata pouted, reaching the back of the line and standing behind Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi turned to smile at him, but then faltered when he saw the glowering expression on Hinata’s face.

“Hinata, are you ok?” Yamaguchi asked, concern in his voice.

Hinata didn’t even hear him, lost in his own thoughts.

Yamaguchi reached out to grab Hinata's shoulder but stopped when a hand landed on his own. He turned around to meet the wary eyes of Tsukishima.

"He needs some time to think," Tsukishima muttered. "Leave him be."

Yamaguchi turned to see Hinata staring at the far side of the gym, absentmindedly fiddling with the hem of his shirt. His mouth still open to speak, he quickly changed his mind and left his words unsaid. Hinata could look after himself, surely.

Hinata was angry. He knew he should be worried, but he couldn't help but feel resentful at the current moment. What had happened to Kenma? Sure, his replies were usually short and to the point, but Kenma had never outright ignored him before. Maybe Kenma was dead. Maybe he had fallen over while chasing a cat home one day and died. Surely not. Hinata shook his head vigorously. He noticed Yamaguchi staring at him but paid no attention. He didn't need Yamaguchi's pity right now.

Hinata had no idea what went wrong. Was it his fault? Had he done something upsetting? Kuroo had always jokingly told him Kenma would tire of him and leave one day - he'd never thought that it was actually possible.

Perhaps something had happened to Kenma. Maybe he had been murdered. You never know, after all. Then again, surely someone would let him know if that had happened - Hinata hoped he was considered important enough to Kenma to be invited to his funeral.

How was Kenma, anyway? Was he healthy? Did he still love Monster Hunter? Was he eating properly? He made a mental note to text Lev to ask him later. How were Kenma's hands? Maybe they had fallen off and he couldn't text anymore. Hinata bit back a laugh. He shouldn’t laugh at something like that, but the image of Kenma’s hands just popping off and scurrying away was too comical.

Hinata wondered if Kenma's eyes were still gold and piercing, with a gaze that seemed to cut right to your soul. He wondered if they still perfectly complimented his golden hair, stiff and brittle, contrasting starkly to his midnight black roots, which were always surprisingly soft and smooth to the touch.

Hinata wanted to scream. So he did.

"ArGGhhh!" He yelled. It was satisfying.

"Shut up, dumbass!" Kageyama yelled, mid toss. "Save that energy for when you spike!"

Yamaguchi stepped forward to comfort Hinata, but was stopped by Tsukishima, again, as Hinata reached the front of the line.

"ArggHhhh!" Hinata yelled, swinging his arm down at the ball. It hit the floor with a satisfying thud.

"Tsukki, I really should talk to him. He's not ok," Yamaguchi whispered, eyeing the decoy in question warily.

"Tch. Whatever," Tsukishima returned. "Do what you want."

Yamaguchi deflated at Tsukishima's words, but approached Hinata anyway.

"Hinata, are you ok-"

"RaAARGH!" Hinata jumped at Yamaguchi, attempting to tackle him, but tripped over his own feet in the process and fell down face first.

"Ah...Hinata, um..." Yamaguchi stammered. He really wasn't good at comforting people or helping them with ...whatever was going on with Hinata. "Ah, is something the matter-"

Yamaguchi was cut off again, this time by Hinata abruptly jumping to his feet and pushing past him.

"I'm fine," Hinata muttered grouchily, storming past Yamaguchi.

Yamaguchi watched him join the line again, glowering at the floor. Helpless and very confused, Yamaguchi made his way back to his place in the line, catching Tsukishima’s eye as he saw him shrug, as if to say "I told you so".

When it was Hinata’s turn to spike again, he slammed the ball down, the ball ricocheting off Nishinoya’s arms and into the wall behind him.

“Impressive, Shouyou!” Nishinoya called over encouragingly. “Keep this up, and you might even replace Ryuu as the ace before the year is over!”

Nishinoya laughed as Tanaka ran over to tackle him, muttering something about “earning his ace position” and having “waited his time”.

Hinata didn’t even notice. Absentmindedly, he rubbed his shoulder. It was beginning to ache.

Yamaguchi began to approach Hinata again but stopped short at the sound of Ennoshita’s voice.

“Alright, that’s enough for now. Ten minutes break,” Ennoshita yelled. “Ten minutes, no more, no less. Got it?”

Yamaguchi glanced in Hinata’s direction to see him scurry out of the door before he could even say a word. He had a feeling he wouldn’t return until practice was right about to resume again.

Next to Tsukishima, Yamaguchi sighed. Turning to Tsukishima, he said, “I wonder if he’s really alright? Perhaps I should try to talk to him after practice.”

“Nah,” Tsukishima replied, “he’ll get over it.”

“Tsukki, I think something’s wrong, I haven’t seen him smile once today.”

“Treat him to pork buns and he’ll be back to the usual. You still coming over tonight?”

Uncertain, Yamaguchi sighed, but didn’t reply, letting the topic drop. Instead, he replied, “Of course I am.”

Hinata didn’t lose the sullen expression for the rest of the day and no one bothered to ask him about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next, Lev pisses Kenma off, followed by a ~fateful reunion~
> 
>  
> 
> P.S: I'm not up to date with the manga, so if some of the childhood stuff is inaccurate I'm sorry ;.;


	4. Old Friends from Tokyo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you may have noticed by now that for Hinata's name, I switch between "Hinata" and "Shouyou" for some of the scenes. I realised at some point that people call him by one or the other depending who it is, so I'm going to go with the name that I feel fits best with the characters interacting with him in the scene. I hope that clears up any confusion!!!

Before he knew it, it was time to have the training camp with the other schools from Tokyo as well as Karasuno. Kenma sighed. He’d been looking forward to this for a while, until about three weeks ago, when everything changed. Now, he dreaded it, that one particular person on his mind.

It’s not that Kenma hated him. It’s just…he didn’t know what to make of him. He was …odd. Confusing? For sure. Hurtful? That was still up for debate. Either way, it was just someone he didn’t want to deal with right now.

From: shouyou

Kenma, did you change your number? But you wouldn’t without telling me right

Sent: 20 days ago

 

From: shouyou

Oh, was it confiscated? Hahaha, sucks to be you!

Sent: 20 days ago

 

From: shouyou

I asked Lev, and he said he sees you on your phone all the time…he says you have the same number too

Sent: 19 days ago

 

Ugh, Lev. Traitor.

 

From: shouyou

Are you out of credit?

Sent: 19 days ago

The texts went on, miniscule details about Shouyou’s day, what Natsu was up to, but as the days went on and Kenma had not replied, the frequency and length of the texts gradually began to decrease.

From: shouyou

Are you avoiding me?

Sent: 16 days ago

 

It’s not that Kenma wanted to. It was more…how could he not? That was what he told himself. It was easy, he thought. He just had to avoid Shouyou for the entire training camp and he could forget all that had happened.

_I don’t like you anymore. I never liked you._

Kenma clicked the home button of his phone a tad too forcefully, the messages he had reread countless times disappearing from his screen.

Surely it was some big misunderstanding.

 

“Kenma-saan!” came a voice from behind him. Kenma turned to see a volleyball flying straight towards his face. On reflex, Kenma brought his hands up, flicking his wrists and deflecting the ball so that it soared high into the air.

“Awh, yeah!” Haiba Lev, the voice from earlier, yelled, swinging his arm down from above. The ball rushed past Kenma’s face, hitting the ground to Kenma’s right and shaking up a cloud of dust, before bouncing away behind him.

“Lev! What the hell!” Kenma growled, anger apparent in his voice. “Are you trying to kill me?”

Lev blinked at the smaller of the two. “But you tossed to me!” He broke into a smile. “As expected of the vice-captain and brain of Nekoma!”

Kenma groaned. His life had flashed before his eyes. He couldn’t die yet. He had at least five games to complete before he could rest in peace. Kenma briefly considered haunting his console to complete the games but quickly banished the thought.

“Whatever, Lev,” Kenma eventually said, annoyance clear in his voice. “If you want me to toss to you, give me at _least_ ten seconds notice next time.”

Lev saluted, which annoyed Kenma even more. “Understood, vice-captain!”

“Don’t call me vice-captain.”

“Okay, inferior boss!”

“…okay, _look here, you-_ ”

“Kozume-senpai!” A shrill voice cut through their conversation, much to Lev’s relief, who ran away to help with the luggage before he suffered any punishment that Kenma could dish out. A tall boy with a slim build and short hair approached, two bags slung over his shoulders. He was accompanied by another boy of similar height, brown hair sticking straight up from his head and a wide grin on his face. The first waved to Kenma, before yelling over to him, “I was looking for my luggage and found yours instead, so I brought both over!”

Kenma eased up, standing straight to regard the first-year setter. “Ah, Kaito. You don’t have to call me that. Call me Kenma.”

“Okay, Kenma-senpai!” Kaito replied.

“Just Kenma.”

“Kenma-san!” Kenma sighed, but didn’t correct him this time, as Kaito continued. “I was wondering if you could give me some tips for setting before the games today! Inouka-senpai here says that you’re the brain of the team that keeps us all functioning!”

Kaito blushed. “Not that I’m trying to take your place or anything, ah, um, I just-“

Kaito stopped as he noticed Kenma glancing around the yard warily, before turning back to him. “Sure, Kaito. Just…don’t be surprised if I suddenly…disappear.”

While both Kaito and Inouka pondered what he meant, a loud crashing sound was heard from across the carpark.

“AkAAAAShIIII!”

Kenma groaned, closing his eyes wearily. “Why is he even here…” he muttered, before plodding off, albeit quickly.

Kaito, noticing Kenma scurrying away, quickly dashed after him, both bags still slung over his shoulders.

At the other side of the courtyard, Akaashi quietly pushed himself up from the ground, dusting himself off and pointedly ignoring the second boy fussing over him, that was asking him about three questions per second.

The duo were surrounded by a stunned group of students, watching the intruder with wide yellow eyes and spiked black and white hair cling to their captain, who was trying to bend over to pick up the poles he had dropped when Bokuto tackled him.

“Why are you here, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi asked, voice flat and devoid of emotion.

Bokuto, arms still wound tight around Akaashi, scrunched up his face and in the most pitiful voice he could muster, wailed, “I missed you so much, Akaashi! Did you miss me?”

Akaashi sighed, giving up on the poles on the ground and attempting to straighten his shirt that Bokuto kept twisting. Beneath Bokuto’s arms, a “1” with an underline was visible on Akaashi’s shirt. “I saw you yesterday, Bokuto. I told you _three times_ not to turn up at the Fukurodani Academy Group training camp.”

Bokuto whined and behind him, a first-year student warily approached to pick up the poles that Akaashi had dropped earlier. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you playing volleyball without me, Akaashi! So, I snuck in! Toss to me again, it’ll be just like the old times!”

Akaashi gazed into the distance, pretending to spot someone near the gym building. “Ahh…is that Yamiji-sensei I see?” he droned. “Be careful, Bokuto-san, you wouldn’t want to be kicked off the school grounds. That would make it the fourth time.”

Bokuto jumped in fright, hiding behind the new captain of the Fukurodani team. “I won’t be caught if they don’t see me.” He began to tug on Akaashi’s shirt, pointing towards a startled second year who was carrying a bag filled with volleyballs.

Akaashi held his ground, glaring pointedly at the boy crouching behind him. Given Akaashi’s slim build, Bokuto’s position just made him stand out more. “Bokuto-san, last time you were caught, they threatened to call the police and only let you off because you begged and promised never to sneak in again.”

Bokuto whimpered, burying his face into Akaashi’s shirt. “Then let’s just not get caught.”

Exasperated, Akaashi attempted to pull Bokuto’s hands away, much to the latter’s dismay. “You say that every single time!”

“I’ve only been caught three out of the seven times I’ve snuck in!”

“I’m not tossing to you.”

“I’ll hide in the shadows, blending in with a stealth ability!”

“Bokuto-san, that stealth ability isn’t real. You’ll be caught.”

“But it was in the movie we saw!”

“You two see movies together?” a second year butted in, before covering his mouth when he realised he had said that aloud.

Akaashi’s brow furrowed and was about to reply, when a whistle was blown and a teacher began motioning for the schools to head toward the gym. At that, Akaashi began to head in the direction of the gym entrance, Bokuto still clinging on and whining. Still bewildered, the Fukurodani volleyball team started to move as well, trailing behind their captain.

“Ah.” Akaashi elbowed Bokuto in the ribs. Another teacher was heading towards them, anger apparent in his purposeful strides.

“See you later, college boy,” Akaashi whispered, a smirk on his face. A tiny smile remained there as Bokuto scrambled to untangle himself from the younger boy and sprinted out of the school grounds before anyone else could say a word.

The teacher joined the group, noticing the quiet, slightly stunned team and the lack of a certain owl-like intruder. Sighing, the teacher just shook his head and motioned towards the gym. “Hurry up and get inside, most of the other schools are already waiting.”

 

Inside, Kenma was tossing to the Nekoma team. Yamamoto was next, throwing the ball to Kenma, who set the ball for him to spike down to the ground.

While Kenma set, he let his thoughts wander. _Karasuno will be arriving soon_ , he thought. _I’ll stay at the far side of the gym and keep busy, so I won’t have a chance to talk to them. I’ll hide during the breaks so Shouyou can’t find me. I’ll get someone to keep an eye on Shouyou, so I won’t run into him. Maybe Yamamoto._

Unfortunately for Kenma, his plan didn’t work from the get-go. Everything seemed to happen at once. Kenma was about to set to Lev, when he heard a teacher yell, “Karasuno is here!”

Startled, Kenma bungled his set, sending the ball flying straight into Lev’s face. Ignoring the cries of the tall second-year, Kenma scrambled to get out of sight before the team from Miyagi entered the gym. He might as well not have bothered.

A second later, Kenma was tackled by an orange-haired bundle that refused to let go, however hard he tried to escape.

“Kenmaaaaa!” The orange bundle squeaked. “I missed youuu!”

Stumbling around blindly, Kenma tried to shake the weight off his back, to no avail. From somewhere behind him, Lev approached, yelling both greetings to the orange-haired bundle that went by the name of Hinata and rebukes at the “brain- _dead_ ” setter of the Nekoma team.

Finally letting go, Shouyou jumped off Kenma and came to stand in front of him. His eyes were bright and his smile wide, looking into the face of his friend he hadn’t talked to for weeks.

“Did something happen to your phone?” Shouyou chirped. “I’d been sending you texts for days and you hadn’t responded! I gave up after a while, thinking I had the wrong number! But Lev said that the number I have is the right one, so I figured something must be up!”

Shouyou’s voice wobbled a bit at the end of his last sentence. His expression was hopeful, searching Kenma’s face for any sign of warmth and welcome.

Shouyou had missed Kenma, having spent endless nights awake and unable to sleep, wondering if Kenma missed him the same way. He had lost count of how many times he had reread his and Kenma’s conversation, going as far back as the message history allowed. Most of the messages were one or two sentences long, sometimes longer if there had been a particularly exciting event that day.

Shouyou was once again looking into the golden eyes he adored so much, but something was different. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Kenma’s eyes were devoid of warmth, simply observing the situation in front of him. Shouyou did a double take. Kenma looked the same, he had the same brittle, bleached hair that framed his face, the same hunched posture and – to Shouyou’s relief – the same slim hands that definitely had not fallen off and scurried away. What was not the same, however, was Kenma’s too-intense, piercing gaze, the only telling factor on his otherwise expressionless face, filling Shouyou with unease.

Kenma, in turn, regarded Shouyou with neutral eyes, neither showing harshness, but neither giving into that warm, wavering smile, no matter how much he dearly wanted to. He ran his eyes over Shouyou analytically. His messy orange hair still stood on end in all directions, the right side flattened from Shouyou’s nap on the bus as usual. He had bulked up slightly, but otherwise was the same height as before, despite Shouyou’s excited texts about his apparent growth that Kenma had received.

Shouyou’s eyes were wide and captivating – as usual – but this time instead of awe, there was an awful sense of forboding as well as betrayal. That hurt. It really did. Kenma also noticed the uneasiness in Shouyou’s form, his arms too tense, his stance too wide.

Kenma saw that, in the corner of his vision, Lev had stopped to regard the two, a quizzical expression on his face. To his dismay, more of the Nekoma were beginning to realise that something was wrong and were turning to observe the standoff.

Shouyou looked so nervous and scared, but he stood in place, awaiting Kenma’s answer. He looked so vulnerable and sad that Kenma almost gave in – he wanted to sweep Shouyou up into his arms, to hold him close, to comfort him and apologise for ignoring him all this time. Those big brown eyes seemed to take up his entire field of vision, drawing him closer, against his will.

Instead, Kenma merely stared down at the shorter boy.

“No, I received your texts,” Kenma replied evenly.

Kenma watched the hopeful, yet scared expression on Shouyou’s face morph fully into one of shock and dread, as Kenma continued to stare coolly at the boy in front of him.

Uncomfortable in the silence that had now formed around him, Kenma added, “I just didn’t have anything to say,” before turning on his heel and walking away.

As he left, he heard a faint, “Kenma…” from behind him, but he kept walking, without looking back.

Everything would show on his face if he turned around.

* * *

Shouyou felt like a heavy weight had been placed on his chest, rendering him unable to breathe. Kenma’s cruel, cold face sprang to his mind, uninvited, as he glared moodily at the floorboards. He glanced up at the game in front of him. Kageyama threw a quick toss at a first year, who swiped at and missed the shot, the ball landing to his right. Hinata thought he caught an annoyed glance from Kageyama in his direction. It seemed to say: “You could’ve hit this! If you were on top of your game, I could be tossing to you.”

Usually Kageyama’s tosses were all that mattered to him. But even volleyball could not cheer Shouyou up today. He’d been put on the sidelines for consistently missing every single shot that came his way. According to Kageyama, even his "shitty, pathetic performance" when he played against him in middle school was to a better standard than his playing today.

Shouyou sighed.

 _Surely Kenma is just having a bad day_ , Shouyou thought. _But that doesn’t explain why he’s been ignoring my messages for three weeks. Not to mention that expression…_ Shouyou screwed his eyes shut, shaking his head rapidly before opening them again. His gaze shifted back to his phone as he scrolled upwards through all his unanswered messages. “ _KENMAAAA,”_ one read, followed by, “ _Kenmaaaaa, ukai says we’re coming to Tokyo next week!_ ”

Shouyou really did not understand what was going on.

* * *

 Tsukishima smiled. “Hinata really is having a bad day, isn’t he?”

Yamaguchi and Tsukishima stood at the side of the gym, watching Fukurodani do a set of diving drills. Karasuno had won the game, if only barely. With their ‘oddball duo’ out of commission, the other teams had assumed Karasuno would be easier to defeat. They’d been proven wrong.

Yamaguchi frowned. “I still don’t like what you did, Tsukki,” he muttered. He was about to continue but was cut off by an approaching figure.

“Oi, good work, both of you.” Kageyama muttered, joining the two at the side of the gym. Kageyama had congratulated the two in words, but his face was twitching as if he had forced the compliment out. Sugawara had told him to try to be more encouraging to his team as a parting message and Kageyama was doing his best to live up to his former teammate’s expectations. Unfortunately, it seemed that it probably would never come naturally to him.

“Ah, Kageyama,” Tsukishima greeted. “Looks like your partner isn’t up to his usual best today.”

“Tch. He’s not my partner. I wouldn’t want to be associated with him if this was the norm of how he played.”

“Maybe you had something to do with it, _King_.”

Instead of lashing out like Tsukishima hoped, Kageyama just rolled his eyes, sneering. “Why would Hinata’s mood have anything to do with me?” He glared at Tsukishima, who was still jeering. “Besides, is that the only thing you can come up with, _dumbass_? Sounds like glasses boy is running out of insults-“

Kageyama opened his mouth to continue, a challenge on his lips, but Yamaguchi held him back with a hand on his wrist and a disapproving glare.

Tsukishima laughed lightly. “Says the one whose entire vocabulary is one word.”

Kageyama took a step toward Tsukishima, to be held back by Yamaguchi a second time.

Yamaguchi sighed, stepping in between the two. “Anyway, I don’t think there is anything we can do to help the situation now, so let’s just let it run its course-”

“I told you that I didn’t do anything, jerk!” At Tsukishima’s smirk, Kageyama had burst out.

The too pure, angelic smile on Tsukishima’s face told otherwise. “Are you so sure that you have nothing to do with this situation?”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about?!”

At Yamaguchi’s renewed glare, the two of them shut up immediately.

After a few seconds of glancing between the two, he turned to focus on Tsukishima, who was now pouting slightly. Yamaguchi frowned. “You’re terrible, Tsukki.”

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Sending all that stuff then deleting it was a shitty move, Tsukki. Even for you.”

Tsukishima smirked but didn’t reply.

“I don’t know if they’re even friends now,” Yamaguchi continued.

“Good,” Kageyama interjected moodily. “Now he can stop telling them our secrets.”

Yamaguchi winced. “I don’t think that’s it, Kageyama.”

After a brief pause, Kageyama muttered, “See, it was Tsukishima-“

“You sent the first one-“ Tsukishima snapped, but Yamaguchi glared at the two again, shutting them up.

Sighing for the second time that minute, Yamaguchi swivelled to gaze at the far side of the gym, the other two turning to follow his gaze.

The three watched as Hinata dejectedly kicked around someone’s abandoned knee pad. The tiny second-year then picked up a volleyball and threw it against the wall with all his might, which rebounded and hit him square in the face. Embarrassed, Hinata glanced around quickly before fleeing the gym.

Yamaguchi sighed a third time. “Seeee Tsukki, I should have talked to him. I’m going now.”

“Humph. Whatever you want.” Tsukishima huffed, before walking away in the other direction. Torn between the two options, Kageyama eventually half-heartedly followed Tsukishima, unwilling to approach Hinata at that moment. He didn’t see what the problem was. As far as he was concerned, Hinata just needed to get over his slump so they could get back to playing volleyball. It would be a waste not to make full use of their week in Tokyo, training with the schools in the Fukurodani Group.

Yamaguchi walked towards the gym doors, glancing back at Ennoshita to make sure he still had time. A flurry of thoughts passed through his head. He wondered if Hinata would be okay. Even though he was worried, Yamaguchi doubted that Hinata would even want to talk to him. They had been on the team for a year now but when it came to matters like this, he was …less than helpful.

Yamaguchi walked outside to see an enthusiastic Nishinoya thumping Hinata’s back, the latter of which was sitting on a bench, curled up in a ball. He couldn’t tell what Nishinoya was saying, but it seemed to have a positive effect, as Hinata reluctantly smiled and uncurled to sit normally next to his senpai. After a while, Nishinoya stopped talking and Hinata started making big gestures and grumpy, exaggerated faces, while the former merely listened and nodded along. The longer Hinata talked, the bigger the gestures became and Yamaguchi could hear some of the louder ‘bwaaaaah!’s and “arrrgh!’s from where he was standing.

Yamaguchi smiled and disappeared before they could see him. Perhaps Hinata would be alright after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Kenma & Lev next chapter!!! Also featuring Noya shamelessly plugging Team Valor at his very impressionable junior
> 
> Thank you for your comments and support !!! It always brightens my day to get the emails that Ao3 sends me about the kudos and comments you all leave for me :3


	5. Camaraderie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was too tired today to edit this properly, hopefully there aren't any glaring typos that I missed. Also a day late even though I didn't properly announce deadlines (I keep them in mind for myself though)   
> The good news is that my team won netball grand finals today!!! (Lower half of the division but still - this is totally off topic but shhh) Which is why I'm tired I guess???
> 
> Anyway, I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I hope you enjoy it too!! :>

“Kenma-saaan…Toss?!”

Kenma shut his eyes tightly. If he can’t see the problem, the problem can’t see him. Right? Wrong. He opened his eyes to see a huge figure bent over, his face inches from his own, the smile unnecessarily wide.

“Ugh…Lev!” Kenma scooted back, nearly tripping over in his haste.

Lev smirked. “The way you shut your eyes, I thought you wanted a kiss,” he joked sarcastically. “You love tossing to me that much?”

Lev’s expression changed from nonchalant to frightened very quickly, as his vice-captain turned to him with the most menacing glare he could muster. To his surprise, instead of a rebuke, Kenma’s expression quickly changed to a tired, resigned expression. Almost regretful.

“Not now, Lev. I’m busy.”

“Awh, but Kenma-san, you say that every time! Can I watch you play your game at least?”

Kenma turned away. “I won’t be playing Monster Hunter.”

Lev’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Oh, then what will you be doing?”

“Existing away from you.”

Before Lev could blink, Kenma had disappeared behind a corner and when he turned to look for him, Kenma was gone.

 

Lev eventually found Kenma in the Nekoma sleeping quarters, during free practice time. He had disappeared as soon as the practice games were over and avoided talking to anyone during dinner. Plus, he hadn’t shown up at the gym for free practice time, then again, he never did. Usually Lev would have stayed – Bokuto had told him to keep Akaashi on his toes after all – but he decided that one day off training wouldn’t hurt.

Lev approached the setter, who was crouched in the corner, fixated on his console. He watched him aggressively push the buttons, slowly but steadily chipping away at the boss monster’s health.

“Hey.”

Kenma ignored him.

“Kenma-san.”

Still no answer.

Lev sighed. Usually when Kenma ignored him he would always at least get some sort of acknowledgement – usually in the form of a grunt or a ‘tch’ of annoyance. However, as much as he was trying, he didn’t get a single peep out of the third-year setter.

It was the times that Kenma was completely silent that Lev knew something was wrong.

“Kenmaaaaaa-saaaan….”

Lev pouted. He really wanted more practice with cross-spikes and he couldn’t find anyone else to toss to him. Kaito had eagerly agreed to help him the first night, but his tosses were so…cautious. Lev always felt a little guilty when he told Kaito how he would like his tosses, as every word he uttered would put a little more fear and caution into the first year’s stance. Eventually Lev had given up and bothered Kenma instead. It was easier talking to him anyway. Kenma didn’t say much but at least he didn’t _visibly quiver in fear_.

Lev poked Kenma in the side. The only reaction he got was a loud sniff and a double blink. He… really was ignoring him. Against his better reasoning, Lev could feel annoyance bubbling up inside of him. He… sort of knew the cause, or at least who was the cause. He wondered what had happened, but Lev knew that if this continued, both the grumpy gamer and - now former - ball of sunshine would be sad, probably for… forever. So, Lev did the only thing he could think to do in this situation.

Nimbly, Lev grabbed the console out of Kenma’s hands and quickly hid it behind his back. “Kenma-san, we should talk.”

Snarling, Kenma leaped onto Lev, grabbing and clawing at the startled younger boy, who was immediately regretting his decision.

“Oi, oi, don’t get me wrong, I fully support you two, but please do your business somewhere other than our sleeping quarters.”

Startled for the second time in that minute, Lev faltered and Kenma quickly grabbed the console, inspecting it before slipping it into his pocket. Standing in the doorway were Yamamoto and Inuoka, the first smirking and the latter somewhere between shocked and confused.

“I-It’s not what it looks like!” stammered Lev, scooting away from Kenma, eyes scanning the ground for the console that had escaped his grasp.

“Are you suure?” Yamamoto wiggled his eyebrows. “I mean, if you don’t want to move, we can guard the room for you.”

“No!” Lev squeaked, but before he could say another word, Kenma grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the door.

“Ah, Kenma-san? Where-“

“Just follow.” Kenma continued to walk towards the door, paying no heed to Yamamoto and Inuoka, the latter of which was now nodding in understanding.

“But- your game?” whimpered Lev. He wasn’t sure if Kenma was still mad at him, was he going to be a victim of murder? He gulped as Kenma led him out of view of the sleeping quarters and outside into the night air.

“It was game over anyway.”

They continued to march in silence, the only sound being the swishing of the trees in the wind.

“So-“

“What do you want to talk about?” Kenma spun around on his heel, and Lev nearly walked over him. Lev really didn’t like this. Was he going to die? Before he could think, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

“Are you going to murder me?!”

Kenma blinked. “What? No... Why?” Kenma sighed, before continuing. “You wanted to talk. Is something on your mind?” He glanced away. “Make it quick though.”

The resignation in Kenma’s form was unlike him. There was a certain sad air around him, one that didn’t suit his usually indifferent self. As well as that, his willingness to talk was also strange and Lev had not actually planned what to do after he got to this stage.

Lev racked his brain, scrambling to think of something to say, about how Kenma didn’t seem okay, was tired all the time during practice, had accidentally set into Lev’s face when Hinata appeared – which _still_ hurt actually –

“Ah,” Lev managed to blurt out. Now that it came to it, Lev actually had no idea what to say. But he had made it this far – there was no backing down now.

“What’s going on with you and Hinata?” Lev asked, accusingly. “You were so close, then recently Hinata’s been sending me texts – I don’t even know how he got my number! Anyway – texts, asking about you, how you are. He says you’ve been ignoring him and he wants to know why.”

Lev stopped abruptly, realising he may have said too much at once. He waited for Kenma to get angry at him, but when he didn’t, Lev stammered, “Ah. Not that I care anyway…its just Hinata’s constant texting is irritating…. It gets on my nerves…yeah! Ah, I mean, well he’s not a bad guy-“

“Shouyou…care about me?” Kenma muttered, almost to himself. Kenma slid down against the outside wall of the gymnasium, arms wrapped around his legs, refusing to look at Lev.

“Aren’t you friends?” Lev asked, confused. He wasn’t sure why he was meddling so much, and in all honestly, he wanted to escape from this situation. He couldn’t stand to see his senior distressed though, even if Kenma tried not to show it. The others may not have realised, but he certainly did.

Kenma wordlessly shoved his phone into Lev’s hands. On it was the conversation history with Hinata.

Lev scanned the phone, then glanced over to Kenma, whose head was buried in his arms.

“Why don’t you talk to him?” Lev asked, genuinely curious.

Kenma’s head shot up and he glared back at Lev. “Why would I do that?”

Lev continued his unblinking stare. “Why not?”

“Tch.” Kenma let out a sigh of disgust, then buried his face in his arms again. His voice was muffled, and Lev could barely make out the words. “Why would I talk to someone who sends me messages like that?”

Lev scratched his head, before replying, “Which ones? The ones about how gross Natsu is when she sucks her toes? Or the one complaining about Kageyama hitting Hinata when he teases him about filing his nails?”

“Ughhh.” Kenma stood up to leave, but Lev quickly grabbed Kenma’s sleeve, tugging him back.

“Wait, Kenma-san. I can tell that you’ve been upset lately, even if you pretend not to be and that everything is fine. The others might not know or care, but I can tell that you’ve had it rough this week. What happened? Please tell me. Nothing is going to happen if you just ignore the problem.”

Kenma sighed again. “Isn’t it obvious from the messages? Besides, after he sent them, I called him and he didn’t respond.”

“Surely it’s all a big misunderstanding.”

Kenma turned away. He didn’t know what he had expected, but this was just a waste of time.

“Kenma-san. Just talk to him. It might be hard right now, but it’s better than running away. He’s trying to talk to you. There’s no harm in trying to understand him back.”

Lev paused, and Kenma turned to glance at him. Lev’s eyes were serious. “Unless you want to run away forever.”

While Kenma’s face stayed expressionless, internally, his heartbeat sped up at this realisation. Stay away from Shouyou forever? He didn’t want that. He wouldn’t do that, surely. He just needed some time to think… about everything. That was it, right?

Kenma wasn’t sure what to think of Shouyou. Bright, energetic, annoying, that was the impression he had received at first, but he had come to miss the lively presence in his life – it was like everything had faded to grey, the same colour the screen became when he lost and all was over. Kenma wondered when Shouyou had become so important to him, trying to remember a time when life’s brightness had not been in some form of interaction with Shouyou. Deep in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Lev stand up, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Just think about it, alright?” And with that, he was gone.

Kenma remained where he was. Staring silently at the ground, he didn’t notice the slip of paper until he started to move and something fluttered off his shoulder. Staring down at his feet, a scrap of paper lay on the ground, messy handwriting scrawled haphazardly across it. “You should have joined Instinct, you Mystic scum – cheer up, and let’s do a raid together when you feel better.”

Still contemplating what had occurred, Kenma let out a small chuckle. How naïve of him to think that once Kuroo was gone, he’d have more slack. Even outside of the court, everyone worked together keep the brain functioning.

His team really did look out for him after all.

* * *

 

“Oiii, Shouyou! Have you heard of the almighty team, Valor?!” Nishinoya clapped his hand on Hinata’s shoulder, shattering his thought process.

“Yes-what- oh, Noya-senpai,” Hinata responded dejectedly. He turned his gaze back down to the floor, where his phone was resting, silent.

Nishinoya slid down to sit next to Hinata on the floor, trying very hard not to get angry once he heard the disappointment in Hinata’s voice when he said his name. “What, not practicing during free practice time? Your receives may have gotten better, but as the guardian deity of Karasuno and your _senpai_ , I feel as if it is my place to tell you that they can still improve!”

Hinata just continued to stare at the floor.

Nishinoya sighed. “Come on now, Shouyou. You haven’t been yourself. You must face your problems with a brave face! Intimidate them, don’t be intimidated! That is what it means to be a man!”

Unfazed by Noya’s over-the-top speech, Hinata asked, “So why aren’t you doing practice, Noya-san?”

“Ah!” Nishinoya’s eyes brightened. “I received some top-secret information! Remember how Shimizu-san moved to Tokyo for her studies? Apparently, she is visiting Yachi tonight! We must stay vigilant and watch for her.”

“Right.” Hinata’s expression did not change as he stared at his phone, almost like a statue.

Nishinoya’s expression softened. “Alright, Shouyou, you’re coming with me!”

Despite Hinata’s protests, Nishinoya easily pulled him up, dragging him away from the empty table he had been sitting at.

Noya pulled out his phone with his free hand, scrolling through his apps until he found the one he was after. Hinata gasped when he realised what he was doing.

“Did you say you’re with Valor, Noya-san?!” Hinata asked, excited, his troubles temporarily forgotten.

“Of course! Who could choose any other than the valiant leader, Candela?! Who are you with, Shouyou?” Nishinoya turned to glare at Hinata. “If you’re with that dirty scum Mystic, our friendship is over.”

Hinata smiled apprehensively. “Ahh... actually, I haven’t picked a team yet…but I really, _really_ want to pick Valor!”

The grin was restored on Nishinoya’s face. “Valor! The team that fights to the bitter end with bravery and courage! None stand a chance against our strength!”

Hinata’s eyes lit up. “So cool!” he breathed.

The two of them had made it to an area on the border of the school grounds. Nearby was the entrance to the school, the road leading to the main city on the other side. Hinata gulped. “Ah, Noya-san, we’re not meant to leave the grounds-“

“Never fear, Shouyou! Right here, is a Pokémon gym! It is currently owned by Team Instinct, led by the leader Spark, who acts on – you guessed it – instinct alone!”

Hinata opened his mouth to comment but was quickly interrupted by Nishinoya.

“However, they are very cowardly and weak, they don’t stand a chance against Valor!”

“Amazing…” Hinata muttered, fixated on Nishinoya’s phone screen.

“Usually I wouldn’t attempt to battle a gym, given my level,” Noya explained, gesturing to his screen. “But there is only one Pokémon guarding tonight, so in a few tries, I can take it down!”

On screen, Nishinoya’s Flareon was exchanging blows with the Dragonite that was defending. Hinata watched as the Flareon fainted and another of Nishinoya’s Pokemon was subbed in.

“Look at this, Shouyou, this one breathes fire AND flies! How cool is it?” Nishinoya whispered. A Charizard had taken the Flareon’s place and the two Pokémon were fighting again.

Hinata opened his mouth to reply, when he heard the faint sound of a person riding a bicycle. Nishinoya’s eyes shot up as he followed the sound.

“Ah! Shimizu-senpai!” Nishinoya all but yelled. He shoved his phone into Hinata’s hands. “I’ll let you take care of this, Shouyou! Get us a victory in the name of Team Valor!”

“Wait, Noya-san,” Hinata called after Nishinoya, but he was already gone.

“Ah…what do I have to do?” Hinata asked himself quizzically, as the Charizard fainted and was replaced with a Pidgey. Hinata gasped in surprise. “What?! This is the Pokemon that Kenma said was terrible! What is Noya-san doing with this?!”

Hinata continued to talk to himself as he battled alone, tapping furiously at the screen and reviving the Pokémon when they fainted. It had taken a while for him to figure out how to do that.

“What’s a lucky egg do? Double exp for 30 minutes? Sounds useful!” Hinata exclaimed, activating the lucky egg.

After a while, unnoticed by Hinata, a second Pokémon appeared in the background of the screen, fighting the Dragonite at the same time. To Hinata’s surprise, the health of the Dragonite started decreasing much faster, and he tapped quickly with more vigour.

“I defeated it!” Hinata exclaimed, as the gym fell and the colours changed from yellow to white. As he was contemplating which Pokémon to leave in the gym, however, the colours suddenly changed from white to blue.

“…Mystic?!” Hinata exclaimed. There was no way…surely he was the only one here? He checked the gym, to find a 1857CP Gyrados as the sole occupant of the gym. Hinata groaned. He wouldn’t be able to defeat it now. He would have to return to Nishinoya to tell him the bad news. But…who could have been here to claim the gym for Mystic?

Out of the corner of his eye, he sensed movement and he turned to see a phone screen lighting up the face of a very familiar figure which was hurrying away quickly, hoping not to be seen.

“No way…”

Hinata bounded after the figure, who, seeing that he was being followed, started to run faster. He seemed to be struggling, however, and tripped over a tree root that was sticking out in the dark.

Hinata approached the figure, looming over the boy in the red jersey, who was avoiding eye contact. Barely containing his surprise, Hinata crouched down to the level of the other boy, who still wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Kenma? What are you doing here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok for all that I bash Mystic, I'm actually on team Mystic...don't hurt me y'all  
> *Nishinoya screaming "HERESY!" in the distance*  
> o shit time to run
> 
>  
> 
> Next chapter: Yams and Tsukki are back!!!! (For a little while anyway)


	6. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So um...hi. I know it's been two months...I'm really sorry!!! I had exams and afterwards I may or may not have faced writers block...
> 
> This was an important chapter so I really, really wanted to write it right!!! So it took a while but I think I'm finally happy with it! From here on, hopefully it's smooth sailing in terms of chapter releases~
> 
> Thank you for sticking with my humble fic, it really makes my day when I see new kudos/comments (also thank you for putting up with THAT cliffhanger for two months kekeke)
> 
> Enjoy!!!

_The night before:_

Lev grinned. “Have you heard of Pokémon Go?”

Kenma groaned. Not this again.

It was night time and it had been lights out half an hour ago – yet the sleeping quarters were still filled with the sound of hushed chatter between boys, as well as the quiet snoring of those who had already fallen asleep.

Lev prodded Kenma on the side of the head, to which Kenma responded to by ducking beneath the covers.

“Awh, come on!” came the voice from the other side. “Kenma-san, surely you know of it! I saw the app on your phone!”

“Doesn’t mean I play it,” came the muffled reply. Under the covers, Kenma pouted. First Shouyou, Kuroo and now Lev. Who next? Inouka? Fukunaga? Lately it seemed like there had been some shared mission between his friends, something along the lines of _force Kozume Kenma to play Pokemon Go._

From the other side of the blankets, Lev’s voice filtered through, a harsh whisper, quiet but persistent.

“What team are you?” Lev continued. “Are you high level? We can do some raids together!”

“…Mystic,” Kenma muttered, still through the covers. Inwardly, he groaned. He had intended to keep Kuroo as the only one who knew he had the app installed, let alone played it, but Kenma knew that Lev wouldn’t go away until he got an answer. Besides, if he had been careless enough to let Lev spot the app on his phone, there was no saving the situation anymore.

“What?!” Lev exclaimed, to be met by hushing from all sides. In a quieter voice, he began to admonish Kenma. “Mystic is so mainstream! Everyone is Mystic! You should have joined Instinct. Spark looks so cool and totally knows what to do, without all that weird thinking stuff involved!”

“If he’s anything like you, he’ll fail every time he tries that.” Kenma rolled his eyes, despite being fully aware that the gesture was unseen.

“Hey!” Lev’s second outburst was met with more hushing. “But Kenma-san, Instinct is cool! There’s a gym on the edge of camp that’s owned by Instinct right now! I don’t know what it is, but the Pokemon in there looks so cool!”

Kenma shifted further beneath the covers in an attempt to get Lev to go away. He didn’t like how loud Lev was being about it all.

“Or do you want to do a raid together some time? I have a Raichu and a Flareon, I think we could do a lower level raid if you have some good Pokémon, but-“

“Lev.” Kenma threw the covers back, emerging from his hiding place in a flurry of blankets, voice soft but clipped. The soft whispers in the room immediately died down and the eyes of those still awake instantly fell on Kenma. “I don’t play Pokémon Go. Go to sleep.”

Uncomfortable in the sudden silence, Kenma huffed and raised the covers over his head again, willing the entire situation away. His outburst had seemed more rational when he played it out in his head.

After what seemed like an eternity, the whispers started up again and just about when he thought he could relax, he stiffened at the sound of Lev’s voice again.

“…just wanted to cheer you up.” The voice sounded petulant, but also sort of sad. Kenma had no idea what to make of it. He paused for a second, still under the covers. He had intended to emerge as he was starting to run out of air, but he wasn’t sure if he had any words to return Lev’s sentiment.

Instead, Kenma focused on what Lev had said earlier. A Pokémon gym? At the edge of camp? Kenma perked up, beneath the futon blanket. He could use the extra pokecoins. He mentally did a run through of the Pokémon he had and the items he needed to revive them. He’d have to check the strength of the gym, but it should be manageable if there was just one Pokémon holding it, like Lev had said.

When Kenma was certain that Lev wouldn’t start anymore conversation, he pulled back the covers and inhaled a welcome breath of oxygen. Although he was in the vicinity of people he knew, the prospect of an easy gym to take over was too tempting for him to pass on... and in the moments before he drifted off, he resolved to claim the gym for Mystic the following night.

* * *

_The following night:_

“Tsukkiiii,” Yamaguchi whined, “someone is taking down my gym!”

Tsukishima didn’t even bother to turn around. “Focus on your serves, Yamaguchi,” he muttered, as he jumped to intercept another of Yamamoto’s spikes. His block was slightly off, and Yamamoto easily smashed through it, the ball landing behind Tsukishima with a resonant thud.

“Tch.” Tsukishima glared at the spot where the ball had landed, before turning back to face Yamamoto, who had taken off his shirt and was waving it over his head. Next to him, Tanaka had done the same and both were yelling in unison.

At the side of the gym, completely oblivious, Yamaguchi frowned at his phone with volleyballs at his feet, as he watched the health of his Dragonite slowly drop. It was tempting to go outside and see who was taking it, but it had become dark a long time ago and Yamaguchi had left his jacket in the dorm room.

 “Hm, what’s this?” A voice sounded next to Yamaguchi’s ear, startling him. He scrambled to hide his phone but stopped when he saw the smiling face of Yuki, the Nekoma libero after Yaku left, standing next to him.

“Oh, ah, hi Yuki,” Yamaguchi stammered, embarrassed but relaxing a little at the sight of the small libero. “When did you appear?”

To Tsukishima’s bemusement, Yamaguchi had taken a liking to the new Nekoma libero over the days they had spent at the training camp. Yuki had needed practice in receiving serves and Yamaguchi had decided to pick up jump serves as well as improving his usual jump floaters. It was a mutually beneficial relationship. What Tsukishima had not counted on was them becoming friends in the meanwhile.

Yuki smiled. “Not too long ago, I didn’t know you played Pokemon Go?! We should exchange trainer IDs!”

Yamaguchi returned the smile, albeit slightly nervously. “Ah. Yes, that would be nice! Ah, I had no idea that you played Pokemon Go either!”

Yuki sidled up against the wall next to Yamaguchi, beaming. Across the gym, Tsukishima turned around to briefly glare at Yuki, before getting hit in the face by an incoming spike that he did not react to in time.

“What team did you choose?” Yuki asked excitedly. “I chose Valor! Yaku-senpai always did things fearlessly without hesitation and the team leader Candela reminded me of him!”

Yuki scratched his neck, looking away sheepishly. “Kuroo-senpai told me to choose Mystic but honestly, I just like the colour red…”

Nearby, Yamamoto guffawed while Tsukishima tried to untangle himself from the net, in which his fingers had snagged in as he landed. He sent Yamamoto a withering glare, sending another at Yuki who was now being pat on the back by _his best friend…_

It was Yamaguchi’s turn to scratch his neck nervously. “I’m Team…Instinct.” He expected Yuki to recoil in shock or at least tell him what a bad choice he had made, but Yuki just kept smiling.

“Oooh, someone from Instinct?!” Yuki exclaimed. “Wow, you’re the first. Everyone that I’ve met has either been Mystic or Valor, it’s a nice change!”

“Ye-yeah…”

From behind Yuki, Fukunaga appeared. “Yuki, have you seen Kenma anywhere?”

“Oh!” Yuki’s eyebrows raised in surprise and Yamaguchi gave Fukunaga a small wave. “Fukunaga-senpai! I can’t say I have, sorry!”

Fukunaga’s shoulders slumped slightly in disappointment. “That’s okay, I have something to tell him.” The corner of his mouth quirked up a bit. “Also, Yaku-senpai is Team Mystic you know.”

Yuki puffed out his cheeks. “ I _know_ , but that doesn’t stop Candela reminding me of him! I still think he should have been Valor…”

Fukunaga raised a hand in farewell before walking away from the duo.

While Yuki quietly sulked, Yamaguchi opened the friend menu on the game, prompting Yuki to do the same.

 “Why did you choose Instinct?” Yuki asked, eyes on his phone as he located the Pokémon Go app.

“Well…” Yamaguchi looked towards Tsukishima, who perfectly intercepted the spike this time, effortlessly letting it hit the floor on the opponent’s side of the net. Yamamoto scowled, but quickly dropped the intimidation act as Tsukishima glared back.

“Well?” Yuki prompted.

“Well…Tsukki told me to pick yellow. Because he said that no one picks yellow, so I would be unique, and he likes that.”

Yuki nodded wordlessly. He opened his mouth to reply, when Yamaguchi interrupted him. “But it was mostly because he said the other teams were dumb.”

“Oh.” There was a brief pause. “So-“

“Hey, Yamaguchi, do you want to go look at the stars?”

Tsukishima appeared suddenly, looming over the Nekoma libero, making full use of his extra twenty-eight centimetres of height. While the question was innocent enough, Tsukishima had uttered the question through clenched teeth and was glaring disdainfully at Yuki, who had shrunk into the wall and to Tsukishima’s dismay, closer to Yamaguchi.

Feeling at least five confused stares on him, Tsukishima grabbed Yamaguchi’s arm, pulling him outside before he had a chance to reply.

Left in the stunned silence of the gym, Yamamoto resumed practice with Tanaka and a member from Shinzen, while Yuki attempted to recover from the bizarre encounter.

“Well…I hope your Pokémon wins…” Yuki muttered to himself, smiling, before leaving to find another person to practice serving to him.

* * *

 

Kenma glared at the ground. _Why, why, why did this have to happen?! Out of all the people, honestly…_

To make matters worse, Shouyou was standing in the way of his path back towards the campsite, so there was no getting up and going back past him.

“Kenma…?” Shouyou’s voice wavered uncertainly.

Kenma ignored him and tried to stand up. A sharp pain in his ankle caused him to gasp and sit back down. If Kuroo were still here, he would never have forgiven him.

“Kenma?! Are you alright?” Shouyou moved to help Kenma stand, but Kenma still looked away from him.

“…Why are you here?” Kenma eventually managed. It was bad enough that it was Shouyou he had been battling with, but with a sprained ankle, he had no choice but to rely on him for help.

“I could ask you the same question.” Shouyou pouted. “I seriously don’t get you. I come to visit you in Tokyo and everything’s fine and then suddenly you stop talking to me and won’t tell me why!”

Shouyou moved closer to support Kenma, but Kenma pushed his arm away, ignoring hurt look Shouyou gave him. Instead, he motioned to the ground next to him, inviting Shouyou to sit down.

Once Shouyou was seated, Kenma sighed. He turned towards him, observing him for the first time in a while. Moonlight filtered through the trees, bathing their surroundings in a soft, ethereal light. Shadows danced over Shouyou’s face, the wind slightly ruffling his tousled hair. Kenma blushed, admiring the way his small form was illuminated and he momentarily forgot why he was there.

When Shouyou turned his gaze to meet Kenma’s, Kenma glanced away again, not sure where to look.

“So…why?” Shouyou enquired, his voice breaking the momentary silence.

Kenma stared at his feet. He had wanted to run, but at the same time…he didn’t want to leave. It had been so long since the two of them had been in each other’s company and Kenma wondered if Shouyou had missed him like he had missed Shouyou.

“…you should know.” Kenma replied softly, eyes still averted. He heard Shouyou shift on the ground, moving closer, his familiar tense gaze focused on him again. He felt a hand settle on his right arm and instinctively, he jerked away.

Realising what he had done, Kenma raised his head to see a slightly shocked, but mostly angry Shouyou, his hand still outstretched. Kenma’s eyes widened as he watched a tear slide down Shouyou’s face. First one, then another. Still in shock, Kenma could only stare back helplessly as the tears flowed, caught in the intense glare in Shouyou’s eyes that remained despite everything, rooting him in place.

 _What a useless human being I am,_ Kenma thought to himself. Not only had he upset Shouyou, but he couldn’t do anything about it. It was his fault Shouyou was upset.

_But it was Shouyou that started it. Right?_

Kenma knew he shouldn’t play the blame game, but he really felt like it should be him shedding those tears, not Shouyou.

Lost in his cycle of thoughts, Kenma was shaken back into reality by a hand pounding against the ground next to him.

“Damn it, Kenma, damn it all! Why are you so silent?! I want to know what’s upsetting you, I really do?!” Shouyou choked back a sob. “I- I care a lot about you Kenma, and I really thought we had gotten closer that time I came to Tokyo but-“

Kenma continued to stare silently as Shouyou sobbed more, opting to fish a packet of tissues out of his pocket and wordlessly hand them to Shouyou instead of speaking.

“-but, here you are, trying to get away from me and I have no idea why?!”

Shouyou looked up to stare Kenma straight in the eyes. “What’s going on?!”

Kenma felt uncomfortable, this heavy feeling in his stomach was new to him. Was it guilt? Shock? Confusion? Whatever, it was, Kenma was beginning to become increasingly frustrated with Shouyou, even though deep down, he knew his agitation was unreasonable.

Kenma gazed back at Shouyou’s tearful eyes, the tears running down his face and falling onto Kenma’s knee. The sight… made him angry. This wasn’t the Shouyou he knew. The happy, joyful Shouyou. The Shouyou that would always brighten his day, the one that never cried and always asked for tosses. But this Shouyou? This… was pathetic.

“Ugh.” With all the strength he could muster, Kenma shoved Shouyou away, turning his own gaze away in the process. He didn’t want to see Shouyou sprawled out on the ground.

_Pathetic. This isn’t the Shouyou I know._

Lev had told him to “just talk to him” like it was that easy. Kenma wondered what Lev would do in this situation. The memory of Lev challenging Yamamoto to a one-on-one match of volleyball came to mind…why was he using Lev as a role model in this situation anyway?

Kenma did not notice Shouyou slowly lift himself off the ground, the sadness on his face having transformed into unbridled rage. Facing the trees, Kenma yelped in surprise as Shouyou threw himself at Kenma while screaming, his arms grasping onto both of Kenma’s shoulders from behind, throwing them sideways. Kenma winced in pain as the force of the tackle sent him tumbling to his left, holding back a sob as his ankle flared up and started to throb.

Kenma groaned as he landed on his back, eyes squeezed shut. He reached out to cradle his ankle but stopped as he felt a weight on top of him and tears splattering on his face. Kenma warily opened his eyes and came face-to-face with a sobbing Shouyou. His face was tear-stained, with streaks of dirt across his face now, from the time that Kenma had pushed him into the ground. Kenma felt a pang of guilt stab him in the gut. _He_ was the one that had made Shouyou feel like this?

Kenma had just planned to run away if he had a choice. He sighed internally. Unable to meet Shouyou’s gaze, he turned away as far as he could.

“…You don’t like me.”

“…what?” Shouyou hissed, tears still falling from his face.

Kenma sighed, this time externally. Now that he was face to face with Shouyou and unable to run, he supposed he had to “just talk” to Shouyou…somehow.

Taking a deep breath, Kenma turned back slightly, before muttering, “You said you didn’t like me anymore.”

Shouyou was still dumbfounded. “What?”

“You said don’t like me.”

“…What?”

“Ugh.” Kenma rolled his eyes and turned towards the ground again, when Shouyou abruptly shifted to his right, trying to get a glimpse of Kenma’s expression.

“Agh!” Kenma gasped in pain, as Shouyou’s weight shifted onto Kenma’s left leg, applying pressure to his ankle.

Recoiling in shock, Shouyou hastily backpedalled off Kenma and instead cautiously propped him up against a tree, which Kenma let him do this time around.

While Kenma recovered, Shouyou slowly lowered himself next to him again, taking time to consider Kenma’s words. He glanced over at the taller boy, wincing at the pain the other was expressing.

After some time had passed in silence, Shouyou asked again.

“Kenma? Um, about what you said. What makes you think I don’t like you anymore?”

“Isn’t that what you said? That you don’t like me anymore?” Kenma snapped, not looking at Shouyou. “That you don’t like me? That you had never liked me? Why would you say that?

Kenma rested his head on his knees, the physical and emotional stress leaving him exhausted. His ankle was still throbbing and he urgently needed help but…he wasn’t done. Not yet. His heart pounded in his ears and he shook nervously. His common sense told him to stop, but for this rare occasion, he ignored it and continued against his better judgement. “You even told me you hated me, Shouyou. And you know what? Seeing you act like the victim here is making me want to hate you too. That’s what you said, right? That you hate me?

Shouyou just continued to stare at the setter, who was now trembling with rage, his eyes full of betrayal. Kenma sat with his right leg stretched out in front of him, the injured left ankle clutched protectively. His accusing gaze confused Shouyou, who didn’t really know what to do. The tears had stopped trickling from Shouyou’s eyes and merely lingered on his face and in fading spots on his shirt.

Once again, Kenma felt uncomfortable, but this time it wasn’t really his fault. He didn’t regret anything that he had said, but the silence was beginning to become stifling.

Not sure if he should apologise for his outburst, Kenma fiddled with his shirt sleeve, avoiding the sad, but confused eyes gazing at him unblinkingly. If he didn’t know better, Kenma would have checked Shouyou’s pulse to see if he was still alive, the statuesque impression he was currently giving off was starting to scare him.

“Um… so my outburst was-“

“What?” Shouyou interrupted again, this time rather brusquely.

Kenma bristled. This was getting out of hand. Growling, he leaned away from Shouyou and attempted to stand, giving up as his ankle immediately reacted in pain when he shifted his leg. Instead he opted to straighten it.

Turning back, Kenma raised his voice again. “What the hell, Shouyou, you can’t just say all these things and pretend you can’t remember sending them?!”

At Shouyou’s continued confused stare, Kenma angrily took out his phone, scrolling through his messages with Shouyou and thrusting the phone in front of Shouyou’s face.

From: shouyou

KENMAAAAAA

Sent: 24 days ago

From: shouyou

I don’t like you anymore.

Sent: 24 days ago

From: shouyou

I never liked you.

Sent: 24 days ago

From: shouyou

Kenmaaaaa, ukai says we’re coming to Tokyo next week!

Sent: 24 days ago

 

Wordlessly, without taking his eyes off the screen, Shouyou pulled out his own phone, opening up his messages with Kenma, still staring at Kenma’s phone screen while moving his own phone in front of Kenma’s face.

To: KENMA

KENMAAAAAA

Sent: 24 days ago

To: KENMA

Kenmaaaaa, ukai says we’re coming to Tokyo next week!

Sent: 24 days ago

Both boys stared wordlessly at each others’ phone screens before simultaneously looking at their own. After what seemed like an eternity, they lifted their eyes, staring straight at each other.

“What?!” they both exclaimed incredulously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kenma really does sigh a lot. What a stressed boyo.
> 
> Next Up: h e l p m e t o s s
> 
> (yes that's the only chapter hint y'all are getting hAH bye for now)


End file.
